News from around the world

A man who allegedly threatened to kill dozens of girls if they didn’t pose nude for him in front of a webcam was charged on Friday by the district court in Uppsala.

The 33-year-old suspect has been charged with perpetrating a widespread web-based assault on more than 60 girls aged between 11- and 20-years-old who live all across the country.

Some of the 65 charges filed against the man include aggravated child exploitation through sexual posing, raping a child, and sexual coercion.

The man targeted his victims using internet chat sites popular with Swedish young people, later mapping out the locations of both girls and their close relatives, according to the Upsala Nya Tidningen (UNT) newspaper.

After making direct contacting the girls via internet chats, the 33-year-old would then force them to strip or perform sexual acts by threatening to harm or kill them and their relatives.

The investigation has been carried out in strict secrecy, and even large sections of the indictment have been classified.

Nevertheless, prosecutor Thomas Bälter Nordenman elected to hold a press conference on Friday to reveal some of the details uncovered by the police’s investigation.

According to reports from the girls, as well as their friends and families, the 33-year-old father of two told the girls he would come and kill them if they didn’t do as he said.

“Most of the girls the man exploited and threatened are 15-years-old. He sought out the girls systematically on the internet and has been very crafty,” said Bälter Nordenman, according to the TT news agency.

According to the prosecutor, the suspect recorded all of the sequences in which the girls had posed nude and performed sexual acts and saved the clips on his computer.

“But we have no evidence that the man spread the films further,” said the prosecutor.

Many of the victims have been terrified, convinced that the 33-year-old was prepared to carry out his death threats.

“There still may be a large number of unreported cases,” said Bälter Nordenman

“We believe he’s molested significantly more girls than whose we know of already.”

Police were able to crack the case after the man was accused of raping a 14-year-old girl from the Stockholm area who he had known previously, rather than through an encounter on the internet.

Shortly thereafter, a girl from western Sweden contacted police to say a man had contacted her on the internet and forced her to perform sex acts in front of a webcam.

After tracing the IP-address, investigators then discovered that the accused rapist and the webcam molester were the same man, according to UNT.

The 33-year-old was arrested in December and has been in custody ever since while police and prosecutors have carried out their investigations.

In the 1990s, the man was convicted for similar crimes in which he persuaded girls to perform sexual acts over the telephone.

The man’s trial is expected to begin in early June, and is expected to include testimony from all of his victims.

A Newton County teen is safe from a 61-year-old man police are calling a child predator. It’s an investigation dating back to February, but police recently found child pornography.

Martin Friedman — also known as Starmaker Mitch lives in Virginia, but police say he preyed on children far beyond that state’s borders.

“He purported himself to be a 21-year-old fashion model designer who was going to make this girl a star,” said Covington Police Chief Stacey Cotton.

That girl is 13 years old and from the town of Covington. Police say Friedman’s M.O was logging on to any number of popular social networking sites, entering chat rooms where he’d get minors to send him pictures — some containing nudity.

“It makes me sick, it really does,” said parent Lisa Iaccaranio. “It’s just something personal to me. It just keeps me on my toes all of the time, very scary.”

Friedman is now behind bars charged with 19 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. What’s more, police say there are still some 150 other questionable e-mails out there from him.

They want to make sure you know if he was preying on your child.

Police said they want parents to be extra vigilant, and to monitor their children’s computer activity.

“I don’t even think I’d let my kid be on chat rooms and stuff like that until they are old enough to completely know what’s going on,” said parent Breanna Roberts.

If anyone has had any type of contact with Friedman — they are urged to contact police. Friedman is presently being held in Virginia.

AUSTRALIA’S child pornography laws have been shown to be lenient, with US members of an internet pedophile ring jailed for life while its Townsville-based co-founder launches an appeal against his non-parole sentence of 32 months.

Former Australia Post human resources regional manager Derek Richard Mara, 30, will next month fight to have his commonwealth jail term cut after he was convicted as one of the four founding members of the internet’s oldest known pedophile ring, The Group, which financed made-to-order abuse movies and picture shoots of children, some just a few months old.

Mara – who carried the moniker of “Tech” – provided computer expertise to encrypt and hide hundreds of thousands of files of the material sold and shared around the world.

An investigation led by Queensland’s Taskforce Argos and involving Interpol and the FBI infiltrated the ring in 2006, and last year arrested 22 core members and identified another 2500 customers of child-sex websites in 20 countries. More than 40 children identified in the images were rescued from abuse during the investigation.

In recent months, The Australian has found that most of the 12 Americans convicted for their involvement in The Group have been sentenced to more than 30 years in jail for offences similar to those that Mara pleaded guilty to last year.

Five Americans were given life, and another was sentenced to 70 years after he was also convicted of abusing a child and recording it on film. Other members of The Group, convicted in Europe, have received sentences of up to life in prison.

Mara – who was also charged with indecent treatment of a child – was sentenced to six years in jail, with a non-parole period of 32 months after pleading guilty to three counts of sending and receiving pedophile images.

It is believed to be the longest sentence given under commonwealth law for the offence, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years for producing, possessing or supplying child pornography.

Child welfare expert Chris Goddard, who heads Monash University’s Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia, said the states and commonwealth were lenient on those who traded in pedophile material.

“Child abuse sentencing in Australia is soft in comparison with the rest of the world,” Professor Goddard said.

“The sentencing does not reflect the seriousness of the crime or the damage done.

“One of the problems is the language – we call it child pornography, which gives a sense of consent. But these offenders are hiring people to grossly exploit and commit criminal acts against children.

“We need to review the inadequate sentencing provisions.”

One other Australian, former Victorian schoolteacher Ian Wayne Tucker, 51, who was convicted as a member of The Group, was sentenced to 15months in jail.

He had more than 16,000 sexually explicit pictures and pornographic videos of young children on his computer when it was seized by police.

An assistant manager at the Clermont Walmart store was the 20th person arrested in a wide-sweeping child pornography round-up by Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s Cyber Crimes Unit.

Jonathan Williamson was arrested at the store late Thursday and charged with 100 counts of possession of child porn.

His arrest was just the latest in a five-month investigation that yielded 20 arrests and 10 more arrest warrants, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. James Vachon said the Cyber Crimes detectives worked with the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces in several states, including Wisconsin, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia to make the arrests. All the charges stemmed from Lake County, although agencies from other counties were involved, Vachon said.

Detectives went online in an undercover capacity and communicated with numerous individuals.

Arrests were made in Leesburg, Lady Lake, Eustis, Mount Dora, Clermont and Mascotte. Those arrested included students, a Walt Disney World employee and a business owner. Most were rounded-up at home, but a few were arrested at work, including one man at Silver Springs Citrus, said Vachon in an e-mail.

Vachon said as a result of the investigation, 23 search warrants were obtained and more than 12,000 images of child pornography were seized from computers. In one case, more than 9,000 images were found on a computer. There were an additional 10 arrest warrants for out-of-state individuals.

The suspects were taken to the Lake County jail and were being held on various bails.

Arrested were:

— Xavier David Eccleston, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Jason Hussey, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Travis Seaman, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Timothy Williams, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Nolon Scott Henderson, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Nicholas Whitton, Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography.

— James Tatarczuk, Certain Uses of Computer Services Prohibited, Transmission of Harmful Material to a Minor by Electronic Equipment.

— Michael Zettelmaier, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Richard Parascandola, Possession of Child Pornography.

— James Martnick II, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Carl Westberg, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Adrijk Duran, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Gary Shank, Possession of Child Pornography.

— Kenneth Gravel, Possession of Child Pornography.

— David Bowman, Distribution of Child Pornography.

— James Matthews Jr., Certain Uses of Computer Services Prohibited, Transmission of Harmful Material to a Minor by Electronic Equipment.

A Pittsburgh woman says she would someday like to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, part of the teams that saved her from a sexual predator who was holding her captive at his Virginia home in 2002.

“He was a total monster,” Alicia Kozakiewicz says of her abductor. “He had a dungeon in the basement, all kinds of torture instruments. I was sexually assaulted. He didn’t feed me for those four days. I was fed the last day.”

She met the man in an Internet chat room. A friend introduced them in cyberspace and Kozakiewicz says her abductor spent weeks grooming her.

“Grooming is, essentially, it sounds crazy, but it’s brain washing,” she said on Friday’s MetroNews Talkline.

“It’s taking a child apart bit by bit, bite by bite, and putting them back together by always being their friend no matter what they do and always being on their side, any time of day, any time of night.”

She was 13 years old when she walked out of her house on New Year’s Day and found herself in a car with the man. Someone he was in contact with online contacted the FBI. Agents traced the predator’s IP address and busted into his house to get her on Day Four of her abduction.

Kozakiewicz was in Morgantown this week for a public awareness event called “A Night of Internet Safety.” More than 300 people were part of the event Thursday at Morgantown High School.

Sergeant Chris Casto with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force of State Police says parents, sometimes, don’t know what clues to look for when it comes to their children’s online activities.

“They’re learning,” Sergeant Casto says. “One of the most important things we do with our ICAC Task Force in West Virginia is our community outreach.”

There are 59 such Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces across the country.

Kozakiewicz is now a student at Point Park University and is trying to move on with her life. She says there is a lot she does not remember.

“I was traumatized, actually, so badly that I’ve lost a lot of my memories and suffered from, essentially, a type of amnesia.”

A Folsom mother got online and posed as her daughter to help police arrest a suspected internet predator. The woman, who did not want to be identified, said her daughter confided in her that something was amiss.

Her 10-year old daughter was researching a paper on the solar system two days ago, when someone sent her an instant message. At first, it seemed innocent, she said, but then things changed.

“It got out of hand and talking about inappropriate stuff,” the girl said. “That’s when I knew.”

Her mother says she just happened to ask her daughter if everything was okay. Her daughter’s response came as a shock. “They told me to touch myself and then I told them, why would I do that, I’m a little girl?” the child said.

Her mother called police and asked if she could pose as her daughter online. Then she got to work.

“I’d misspell words. I would say things differently. I typed with one finger so it was a little slower,” she said, as she tried to be convincing.

The suspect was completely taken in. “He proceeded to talk to me about the same things, the masturbation-type things, sending me explicit photos,” she said.

She was able to get the man’s real name and other information that led Folsom Police directly to the suspect.

On Wednesday morning, they served a search warrant at the suspect’s home and that afternoon, arrested 53-year old Gerald Ivor Edwards on one count of sending harmful matter with the intent to seduce a minor and one count of annoying or molesting a minor.

Police say the suspect is a local sex registrant who was previously arrested for indecent exposure.

At Edwards’ home, a woman who identified herself as his mother said she could not understand her son’s alleged actions.

“(He’s) quite kind, very loving. He’s wonderful to me. And he’s great with people,” she said.

Folsom Police are concerned there may be other victims and are asking anyone who suspects their child may have had some kind of inappropriate contact with someone on line, to give them a call.

The alleged 10-year old victim says she is fine and is proud of how she and her mother handled things. “My friend’s mom said I did a little bit of good because the guy in in jail now,” she said.

According to investigators, 67-year-old William Blanscet used an internet chat room and a web cam for explicit sexual talk, and to expose himself to who he thought was a teenage girl.

Instead, the girl was an undercover officer with Utah’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Investigators say his user name was “happyutahman”.

“What’s very disturbing, is he’s in a leadership position in his religion,” said Capt. Rhett McQuiston with the Task Force. “The conversations were very sexually explicit in nature, with the underage child and on at least four different occasions he would use his web came to stream live video shots {of him exposing himself}’

But the most disturbing and shocking thing for investigators is they say Blanscet actually committed one of his crimes inside a hospital, while he was with his wife, who had knee surgery.

“Was streaming his web cam and chatting with this person while his wife was unconcious in the hospital.” said McQuiston. “Thats one of the strangest things I’ve seen in my entire career.”

Blanscet is the pastor of Church of God of Prophecy which is at 425 North 700 West in Salt Lake City.

It’s unknown just how many people are in his congregation, but people who live next door say the parking lot is packed every Sunday and it appears a lot of people attend the church.

“I can’t even believe that'” said Juliana Gutierrez, who lives next to the church. “It’s horrible for a pastor to go on the internet seeking children. Its disgusting.”

Anthony Robles also lives next to the church, and worries about his own children who often play in the parking lot.

“We don’t know what could have happened to any of our kids…that’s what they preach don’t do that with children then you turn around and that’s what they are doing,” said Robles.

And that’s what worries investigators.

“Whenever a person of trust is involved in these activities, it horrifies me to think what could also be going on. His position of trust, he could be having access to many children. That is our fear there maybe more victims out there,” said McQuiston.

According to investigators, Blanscet admitted to the crime when they went to his home to confront him about the charges.

He has not been booked into jail and would not comment when 2news tried to speak to him at his home.

Investigators say he plans to turn himself in next week on four counts of attempting to deal harmful material to a minor.

If found guilty he could spent up to 20 years behind bars. He told 2news he is no longer a pastor of the church.

A Medina County assistant public defender is accused of sending more than 200 images of child pornography to undercover FBI agents.

Sean Christopher O’Toole, 41, was arrested at his Lakewood home Friday by federal agents on a charge of receipt and distribution of child pornography.

Special Agent Scott Wilson, a spokesman for the FBI’s Cleveland office, said O’Toole used the Internet since January to send child pornography images to the agency’s Innocent Images Unit in Maryland and the Cleveland office’s cyber crime squad.

O’Toole faces five to 20 years in prison, if convicted. His case has yet to be presented to a federal grand jury for consideration of an indictment.

A 20-year-old man is behind bars; accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl he met on Myspace.

According to Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims, 20-year-old Luis Bernabe was arrested on Monday evening at a residence near Valentine Ave.

Mims says her officers were called to the residence regarding an assist to the Kings County Sheriff’s Office. A 13-year-old had been reported as a runaway out of Kings County, and an investigation into the matter led officers to believe the girl may have been with Bernabe.

Detectives had learned that Bernabe and the teen met on MySpace, and had been in contact for several months ago.

Officials say they believe Bernabe drove to Kettleman City Monday morning, where the girl lived, and picked her up, taking her back to Fresno with him. While searching the girls room, her mother found Bernabe’s name and address on a piece of paper and gave it to deputies.

When deputies arrived at Bernabe’s residence they found the girl inside the home, and Bernabe hiding in a bedroom closet. While at the home, deputies learned that Bernabe had sexually assaulted the girl, and arrested and booked him into the Fresno County Jail on sexual assault charges.

Sheriff Mims would like to advise parents that they can get more information on social networking and Internet safety by visiting the Fresno Internet Crimes Against Children task Force website at www.fresnoicac.org.